Encounter M
by Mara Trinity Scully
Summary: SPIDERMANMATRIX CROSSOVER: Being the hero's woman is tough job, but somebody has to do it. (Second chapter up at last!)
1. Encounter I

Title: Encounter  
  
Author: Mara Trinity Scully  
  
Summary: Spiderman saves a distressed damsel, much to another hero's great relief  
  
SPOILERS: The so-called "crappy" ending of Spiderman (DUDE I LOVED IT! GOOD CALL SAM RAIMI!!!)  
  
Rating: PG-13  
  
Category: Post-current movies of Matrix and Spiderman  
  
Feedback: Yes please! marascully@yahoo.com  
  
Author's Notes: This piece tickles me. After watching Spiderman twice, I couldn't help doing this. It's bizarre. And many apologies to all the hardcore Spiderman fans out there: my only knowledge of WHO Spiderman *is* is from Tobey Maguire's lovely performance. And to my Matrix peoples, do note that this is more of a Spiderman-fic than a Matrixfic  
  
Thank you: To Centaur for laughing hysterically when I told her that I was doing a Spiderman/Matrix crossover. Forgive me.  
  
Disclaimer: Columbia and Warner Brothers? I LOVE YOU GUYS! Kiss kiss.  
  
Ps. If you haven't seen Spiderman, don't read this. GO SEE SPIDERMAN. Then read it.  
  
   
  
  
  
  
  
I can't understand it.  
  
The City continues as normal…but something is different. Something…important is going on. And I can sense that it is something I have never been up against. And this elusive "it" has nothing to do with me…or even the City itself. Still, there is a new aura of danger invading the City, but it is…temporary. It will leave as soon as its task is done. But what is the task? What is this shadow I can sense trying to accomplish? And why do I feel like I can't do anything about it?  
  
But that is not going to stop me from trying.  
  
Breathing the night air as deeply as I can, I try to sense where the shadow is coming from. And there it is. An abandoned building soon to be bulldozed on the West side. I swing there as quickly as I can, feeling dread build in my stomach. Besides the shadow, there is a sense of…otherness near me. Close by. I look over to see a figure jump from one building top to another. And then it disappears. I can't sense it anymore. My mind spins a wild web. It, of course, is not IMPOSSIBLE for someone to jump from building top to building top—look at me-- but a human who could accomplish that feat is more than extraordinary.  
  
And will more than likely become my next enemy.  
  
Oh boy.  
  
I reach the building directly across from the location of the shadowy feeling. This close, I can sense that there are five humans causing this strange vibe. And I can sense their emotions too….Anxiety, a deep horrible anxiety. They're waiting for something. I want to get closer. But suddenly, to my amazement, there are only four of them.  
  
What is going on?  
  
Then, there are only three. Then, two. Only one is left. It's a woman. And she's in pain. I may be in over my head, but when someone is in pain, nothing matters but stopping that pain.  
  
I swing over to the building to latch on the façade. I look in the window where I sense she is. A tall man in black is fighting her, fiercely, horribly. Her mouth is bleeding and she limps, but despite the odds, she fights bravely. Next to them is the remains of a telephone that has been destroyed. A moment of indecision hits me harsh in the stomach. The man in black is obviously a government agent and so this woman might be a criminal. But I cannot bear the sight of this man brutally beating up this woman.  
  
However, the man decides for me as he picks the woman up and hurls her through the window.  
  
She shoots past me and I watch her fall. The woman doesn't even scream, she is so startled as the world spins past her as gravity threatens to bring her crashing down to the ground. In a single moment, I dive down faster than ever to sweep her up into my arms and into safety. The man in black glares at us as I swing her away.  
  
She clings to me tightly and begins to bury her face in my neck. As cloth, not flesh, meets her lips, the woman in my arms recoils in shock. Her surprise unexpectedly turns into a quiet kind of joy. She begins to chuckle, a light and sweet laugh that resonates through her body. Perhaps she thought I was someone else. To my absolute confusion, her weight becomes increasingly lighter. In response, I tense, wildly unable to comprehend it. The woman says in a soft voice in my ear, "Don't want to be too much of a burden on you."  
  
To get her far enough away from the abandoned building, I take her to Central Park. Gently landing on the ground, I step out of her tight embrace. She smiles at me. Her face is no longer bleeding; in fact she looks like she walked around the block, not fought madly for her life. With a flick of her hand, she pushes an errant strand of her dark, wind-mussed hair away. At this point, I usually leave the rescued damsel, but my curiosity cannot be ignored now that I have her safe. And besides, I can't help thinking her one of the most beautiful women I have ever seen. She is much older than I but…still, her beauty resonates in those deep green eyes.  
  
The woman chuckles again. "Peter Parker, you sure know how to show a girl a good time."  
  
My heart skips an agonizing beat. No. Oh no.  
  
She senses my sudden horror and touches my shoulder. A wave of calm races through my body from her touch. I cannot stop looking in her eyes. In a soft voice, she says, "Thank you. You're a true hero. We all think very highly of you."  
  
Her eyes are so warm, so…green…  
  
All of a sudden, she releases me and looks up. I sense what she sees: an intense power coming towards us at incredible speed. Still at a loss of who is good or bad in this strange encounter, I grab her arm and push her behind me. A flying figure in black zooms towards us and lands neatly where the woman was just standing. He is a tall, dark-haired man dressed in a black trench coat. Despite my apprehension, a part of me just can't comprehend why he is wearing sunglasses at this time of night. There is something considerably wrong…different about this man… Who…what is he? I realize that he was that sense of "otherness" that I felt earlier. He does not seem fully human. And the power exuding from the creature is unworldly. I tense into my fighting stance. He smirks at me, not unkindly, and then looks at the woman behind me, with very different expression.  
  
"You okay, Trinity?" His voice sounds so concerned that you'd think she was mortally wounded.  
  
"Neo, I'm fine. Peter saved me in time," she replies.  
  
This Neo character looks at me and removes his sunglasses. His eyes exude a deep gratitude. I cannot help myself but straighten up and remove my own mask. This is a man to look in the face. As I look deeper in his aged eyes, I see great power and great pain. He is a hero like me, only older, more experienced. And his journey is different than mine, greater than mine.  
  
"Thank you, Peter. I owe you one," he says, offering his hand. I reach out my hand to shake his. Trinity moves towards her companion and wraps an arm around him. My heart aches. Here is an active hero who is with the woman he loves, despite the constant anxiety it causes. How does he do it? How do they do it? Those government agents must know that they can get to him through the beautiful, dark-haired woman. Perhaps this hero and heroine don't care. Perhaps they find strength in the weakness of love. Perhaps…  
  
"How do you know who I am?" I ask.  
  
The two look at each other and smile. "We know a lot about you, Peter. We're always rooting for you. Keep up the good work," Neo replies. With that, he puts an arm around Trinity and levitates off the ground. Trinity says, "Till next time, Peter!" and they shoot off into the evening sky.  
  
As I slowly put my mask back on, I wonder what that was. Who are those people? But maybe there are just some things in this world that I am not supposed to understand.  
  
  
  
Like why do I have the strangest impulse to see Mary Jane right now? 


	2. Encounter II: Dea Ex Machina

**Encounter II: Dea Ex Machina**

By MTS )

_Rating_: R for smut

_Summary:_ Being the hero's woman is tough job, but somebody has to do it.

_SPOILERS_: Spiderman films, Matrix films (including the unfortunate sequels). (And X2: United, actually...and various other comic book/film references.) It's anti-canon goodness.

_A/N_: This fic is Spiderman movie-canon as I have no real clue about the comic-canon (mea culpa) and it's a little wacky in the Matrix-verse as, yes, I have a mystically alive Trinity and Neo in "2004" (when they really died in "2000"). Deal with it. It's my feminist agenda fic.

This is a thinly veiled slam against MJ as (thank you, A.O. Scott!) "the love interest, villain bait and object of rescue." Don't take this too seriously. Except for the thinly veiled message that no superhero can shack up interminably with a woman who can't defend herself.

_Disclaimer_: Columbia, Warner Brothers and Marvel own these characters. Not me.

_Setting_: Two days after the last perplexing shot of Spider-Man 2.

_Kirstin Dunst on the character of MJ in Spiderman 2: .She's has to be victim in some ways because Spider-Man has to save her. But she's not a victim that takes things passively. She's right up in Ock's face. I don't have to scream and drop as much in this movie ... Spiderman 2 Website_

_Trinity: You know what they say about the life you save. Matrix Reloaded_

**Encounter II: Dea Ex Machina**

She sipped her iced peppermint latte quietly as she watched the door of the café open and close, open and close, allowing this and that person in. Mary Jane was waiting for him, again, always waiting for him, but this time she understood what was delaying him. She only hoped that he _would_ arrive. Clad in pink silk and black slacks, her designer pink purse in her lap, she drummed her fingers against the table.

_Peter, Peter, my Peter Parker. Any minute now, he'll walk through that door_, she thought, feeling more and more anxious as the adrenaline and caffeine soared through her system.  
  
"He's late, isn't he." The voice was gentle yet mocking, a low voice, a calm, simple one. Mary Jane turned to look at the speaker.  
  
Two women were sitting at a table behind her. One was older, a woman in green and the other, the younger one, was in black, her left hand fingering a pair of sunglasses on the table.  
  
"Excuse me?" Mary Jane said, bothered by the intrusion.  
  
The woman in black smirked at her. The other woman repeated the earlier comment. "He's late. Your darling boy is late."  
  
Mary Jane cocked her head and put her drink down on the table. "Well, yes. He is." Her tone obviously offended the woman in black.  
  
"Peter has a lot to do. You can't always expect him to be on time." The woman in black's voice was soft yet intense, a biting edge to it. But Mary Jane was occupied with another troubling thought.  
  
"How do you know...?"  
  
The two women looked at each other and chuckled softly. "We know Peter," the older woman said.  
  
"And although you are his favorite damsel in distress, he saved me once." The woman in black took a sip of her drink—it looked like plain black coffee. "Quite the hero."  
  
Mary Jane felt a twinge of jealousy and quickly tried to chase it away. "He saves a lot of women...people. That's what he does." As she spoke, she realized that she was talking to two strangers who not only knew who she was and her relationship with Peter, but they knew who Peter _really_ was. She looked around the room to see if anyone was listening and suddenly had a terrifying thought that these two women...could...  
  
"No, no, no, sweet girl. We're not going to harm you." The elderly woman pulled out a cigarette and lit it carefully. After a drag, she eyed Mary Jane and smiled. "We're not at all what you think."  
  
Mary Jane did not feel soothed by this at all.  
  
"Well," the lady in black smirked a bit more, "I could be qualified as a terrorist."  
  
"That you could, Trin, that you could." The elderly woman nodded her head and took another drag of her cigarette.  
  
"Who are you?" Mary Jane had to ask.  
  
The two women looked at each other again, the younger one obviously wanting to follow the lead of the elder. "You can call me Evelyn, which is, of course, not my real name," said the elder woman, "and her name is Trinity."  
  
"Is that your real name?" Mary Jane asked mockingly at the woman in black.  
  
She raised her coffee cup in a toasting gesture. "One of many."  
  
"How do you know who I am...who Peter is?"

"Again, that question, Mary Jane Watson, star of stage and the currently favored perfume model." The woman called Trinity looked at her pointedly. "And the woman Peter loves."

"Pull up a chair, girl. We came here to have a talk with you." The elderly woman took another long drag from her cigarette. "Peter will be along presently. He's helping our own gentleman hero friend fight off something really nasty."

Mary Jane carefully lifted her latte and moved over to sit closer to them, feeling both deadly curious and vulnerable at the same time. The woman did say she was a terrorist.

"Ever see Indiana Jones, Temple of Doom?" Trinity asked with a small smile.

Mary Jane grimaced. "Only parts of it, I can never see it all the way through, it's too terrible. Kate Capshaw is so terrible in that film."

"Precisely my point. Now tell me why."

She looked at the woman, her eyes incredulous. "What does this have to do with anything?"

"Indulge me." Trinity took a long sip of her coffee, her eyes never leaving Mary Jane's.

Mary Jane bit her lip and thought about why Kate Capshaw was the downfall of the second of the Indiana Jones trilogy. "She didn't compliment Indiana. She was a singer, a performer, not a fighter. She was useless in a fight, always whining or screaming, she..." Her breath stopped in her mouth. Her eyes widened and she looked at them, incredulous, accusing and shamed. "Oh."

The older woman leaned closer to her. "Sweetheart, we're going to give you some advice. We like Peter. He's good for the City. And he's a sweet, sweet boy..."

"And I'm not worthy of him, is that it?" Mary Jane felt both insulted and ashamed. _Was it true?_ Didn't she know it was true as Doctor Octopus's tentacle smacked her out of the way when she tried to put her frustration, anger, hurt to use? Frustration fueled by this irritating judgment filled her body with rage.

"How can you judge me? You don't know me at all! You don't know him...you don't..." She bit the inside of her mouth, forcing her anger down but clinging onto that dreadful sensation of the truth.

Trinity reached out and took her hand. Mary Jane flinched but didn't pull it away. The strange woman sighed. "Being the ... how do you say...the hero's woman ... It's harder than you think. Peter is not just any boy, Peter is not like anyone you've ever been with. He has needs that desperately need to be filled, needs you're not used to in a man. He's young, he's vulnerable, he doesn't have the independent confidence of some other superheroes I know." She stopped and took a deep breath.

"Peter needs someone who understands him, listens to him as he breaks down, takes care of him when he's wounded, doesn't let him do stupid things like not eat (we know he doesn't), not pay rent. He needs a woman to support him, respect him." Her voice, growing in intensity, lowered and she tightened her hold on Mary Jane's hand.

"But more important, Mary Jane, and this is the main reason we've come to see you today. He needs a woman to protect him. Not only from himself, but from..." She shook her head, her short black hair shining as it moved. "There will always be someone out to kill Peter Parker. And you're the key target."

Mary Jane closed her eyes and thought of the Green Goblin, falling to her death, and then that damn Doctor... "I..." She hesitated. "I tried to help the last time..."

She didn't notice the other two women desperately try to hide their snide smiles, her mind was finally listening to the little voice that in her head that always accused her, right as she was about to die, of being the ineffectual bait, the eternal role of the beautiful woman. Not worthy. _Not worthy._

"We saw what you did." Trinity's words were clipped. "It was admirable, but not enough."

Mary Jane looked at her, shaken out of her memory.

The woman in black continued. "Not enough if you wish to be with Peter."

Irritated, Mary Jane shook her head. "You saw? _How_ is it that you know all this about me ... and Peter?"

The two women looked down at the same time, and Trinity let go of Mary Jane's hand. Evelyn spoke up, "Child, we're telling you your own story..." She paused.

"...no one is told any story but their own," Mary Jane intoned, confused but understanding the bizarre reference.

"The point of the matter is, Mary Jane, if you want to be with Peter, there are sacrifices you must make and a bit of a life change." As Trinity ran her hand quickly through her hair, Mary Jane noticed the woman's arms at once and stiffened in her chair. Terrorist or not, this woman may come off as a waif, but Mary Jane knew that this woman could knock her through the window.

"Think of this as a new way to sell yourself as an actress. Audiences today enjoy a beautiful warrior woman and movie studios are dying for women stars who do their own stunts."

Mary Jane narrowed her eyes. "What do you mean...?"

"Martial arts. Racquetball for upper arm strength. Keep up all your dance classes so you're quick on your feet. And..." Trinity paused a moment, a guilty expression on her face. "And...we'll help you get a head start."

"A head start?" Mary Jane looked inquisitive.

"It would take you years to get exactly where you should be. And you and Peter's mutual friend is about to become a serious problem in your lives. So. We're...we're going to bend the rules."

Mary Jane straightened in her seat. "Harry."

"A _serious_ problem. Especially with you involved."

Drinking the last of her latte, Mary Jane shivered as she reminded herself that the Green Goblin was Mr. Osborn, that horrible man. And that Harry was...

"So you're going to train me or something?" Her eyes narrowed slightly. It was quite unusual to be patronized in such a way but feel... deserving of it.

Trinity smiled slightly. "Not... exactly. We'll wait for our gentlemen friends to arrive first."

Mary Jane held her breath and slowly let it out. "The things we do for those we love."

"Imagine what it must be like for him." Trinity said it softly, but Mary Jane felt the words tear though her, sharper than death. _Peter_.

"So with this... "head start," next time I'll be less of a damsel in distress..."

"...and more of a distressed damsel." Trinity finished the sentence and smiled.

Mary Jane looked Trinity in the eyes and suddenly felt like she understood. "You were the other way around, weren't you?" She was shocked as Trinity nervously adjusted herself in her seat. The strange woman was unnerved. _How interesting_.

"Indeed she was," said the older woman as she lit another cigarette.

Mary Jane noticed the odd look Trinity gave the older woman and could tell there was far more to the story. "You were the warrior who fell in love."

"And you're the lover who must become a warrior."

The older woman coughed suddenly and pointed at the door. Trinity and Mary Jane turned around to look as it opened and Peter Parker (her Peter Parker!) and a tall man in black entered, deep in conversation.

"...yeah, yeah, Temple of Doom really _was_ a horrible film," Peter said as he closed the door to the café.

The taller man nodded as he scanned the café and Mary Jane shivered as his eyes passed quickly over her and then found the woman in black.

"This must be your gentleman hero friend," Mary Jane quipped, suddenly unable to look Peter in the eye as the two gentlemen approached.

"Indeed," replied the older woman.

Trinity leaned back in her chair. "So, Neo. You're alive," she said, her voice sounding greatly disappointed.

"No thanks to you," replied the man in black. Trinity snickered.

"That _would_ be thanks to your friendly neighborhood...," Peter looked around a faux-cautiously and whispered, "well, you know." Peter grinned at Trinity widely. "Hi."

"Hello, Peter."

Mary Jane was astonished to see Peter Parker (HER Peter Parker) blush.

Suddenly, this ass-kicking idea was sounding _better_ and better.

Her eyes flashing, she smiled winningly at the two gentlemen who were staring at the woman in black. The elderly woman coughed again and Peter immediately slid into a seat next to Mary Jane and placed his hand on her knee, his head leaning in towards hers. "I'm sorry I'm late." His voice, soft, his eyes, ...she could describe them only as how Peter always looked at her. In a way that made her feel like the woman she was supposed to be.

As the urge to touch him, kiss him (tacklehimtothefloor) began to gnaw at her self control, she looked away from his intense stare. "Next time, I won't forgive you." She smiled as she said it and put her hand in his. He squeezed her hand tightly.

"So, is she ready?" Neo's monotone voice brought Mary Jane away from her angst and desire to tacklepetertothefloor.

"Ready for what?" said Mary Jane and Peter at the same time, her voice curious and his voice...dangerous.

None of the strange heroes paid them any mind. Trinity nodded at Neo, her hand on his shoulder. "She's ready."

"I'll need help on this, Trin." Neo looked searchingly at the woman next to him. Mary Jane felt their connection and felt awed by it. That was what she wanted. That kind of connection, trust.

"Not all powerful now, are you?" Trinity snarked quietly back to him before turning to the older woman who was looking at her most incredulous.

"Trinity, I didn't know you could..."

"New world, new tricks, mom." Trinity's reply made the older woman bristle slightly.

Neo touched Trinity's shoulder and together they closed their eyes. After a split second, the café quivered and then was completely silent. Mary Jane and Peter looked around, astonished to see that the world was literally frozen in place. Mary Jane was sure she had heard that a mutant had done this in Washington last year...

Peter tensed, his hand clenching Mary Jane's. His spider sense was probably going crazy, she thought.

"What. Is. This."

It was Peter's _dangerous_ voice. Trinity open her eyes and caught Mary Jane's. They started to chuckle.

"This is the head start?" Mary Jane asked as she tried to disengage her hand from Peter's vise grip.

Trinity nodded. "Actually, it would be best if you continue to hold his hand during this." She closed her eyes again.

Peter started to move but Mary Jane quickly grabbed his shoulders, forcing him to look at her. "I trust her." She leaned over, kissed him on the cheek and took both of his hands in hers. "Peter, this is important. For us."

He obviously didn't understand but he repeated her word. "Us." He looked like he was trembling. And she...she felt ready...for whatever it was.

Something in her brain shuddered and her body stiffened. She could no longer see, no longer feel anything but Peter's hands holding hers as if she were about to fall from a great height. She could hear him breathe. She could hear her heart beat. But she felt weightless...

"What are you doing to her?" Peter snarled. There was no response. "WHAT are you doing to her??" he repeated, a frightening edge to his voice. She knew that voice. It was the voice she remembered saying, "You lay one finger on her..." to Doctor Octopus... The memory strengthened Mary Jane's will to have this head start, whatever it was.

"Peter." It was the older woman's voice, authoritative, maternal. "We're not harming her."

"Quite the opposite." Trinity said, her voice strained.

Mary Jane could guess that Peter remained tense, but stayed still. A moment passed.

"Oracle, do you see his code?" It was Neo's voice. He sounded disturbed.

The older woman sighed. "It's red, erratic. Yes. He's part program, part anomaly."

"Similar to the One?" Trinity's voice.

"In theory. But completely unrelated to the overall plan. Some humans evolve due to one thing or another. But it's never a threat to the system, so we never monitor it."

Peter spoke. "There are more like me?"

"Here and there. You've heard of the mutant problem, I suppose."

"Yes. I've been trying to get in touch with Dr. Grey, recently."

Trinity chuckled. "She's currently not in touch with anyone...yet."

Another moment passed.

"Mary Jane? I want you to think about Peter. How he looks at you. The feel of his hair. The sound of his voice. What it's like when he's not near you. What it's like when he enters the room. Focus on those feelings." Mary Jane felt Peter squeeze her hands.

_Rain falling, danger, being saved for the second time, a most unusual kiss. The wind on her face as she held tightly to the superhero carrying her away from danger. His eyes as he told her what "Peter Parker" told "Spider-Man" about MJ... _It's as if you've reached the unreachable, and you weren't ready for it..._Each kiss, each touch. Every time she cradled his face in her hands and watching him fight the desire to melt into her and finally...finally when he did. The warmth of his body next to hers, at last, curled up in her arms. The hurt in his eyes as he spoke of what troubled him, of Harry, of his Uncle Ben, of not being able to tell her... _Save my life, MJ. Save me.

"Open your eyes."

Mary Jane opened her eyes to see a pair of nervous blue eyes starring hungrily at her. "Peter." She said it softly and she could sense him calm down considerably.

Wait...she could..._sense_ him?

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw something and was suddenly sickened, horrified, betrayed. Her hand shot out before Peter could react, slamming an incoming object (a coffee cup?!) away and shoving Peter down..

Neo, leaning over the table, looked at her, impressed. Trinity clasped her hands together and looked pleased. "It worked."

Peter, sprawled on the floor, looked up at Mary Jane, shocked. "What the hell?"

"Was that a _test_?" She glared at Neo, feeling the urge to fling her own cup at him and see if Trinity knocked it out of the way. Mary Jane decided that after this she was seriously going to get drunk.

Trinity picked up her sunglasses and put them in her pocket. "With impressive results. You will find your new...capabilities slightly cumbersome for a day or two. But you must start to train your body, your mind. We didn't change everything and you'll have to work at it. But whenever you or Peter are in danger, you will not be as frustrated as before, chained to a post or hanging upside down in a lunatic's sadistic choice."

As he got up, Peter looked at Mary Jane and then at Trinity. "You changed her?"

"Think of her brain as a computer and that we downloaded new software inside. Software that includes a bit of your coding and a great deal of mine. Also, we put in some fight training, muscle growth, superior eye/hand coordination, and a particular hack that I'm particularly proud of—anytime you are in danger, Peter, Mary Jane's reflexes are heightened."

As Peter gaped, Mary Jane looked curiously at her arm. It looked normal, if a little...she flexed her arm and gave a little noise of pleased shock. "I can fire my trainer now."

Neo and Trinity looked at each other. "And get another one. An advanced one."

Mary Jane looked at Peter and, so weirded out by the situation, all she could do was laugh. Peter ran his hand through his hair and sighed. "Oh boy."

"And with that, I think we should get going." The elderly woman stood up and finished her cigarette. "I have a train to catch."

Neo and Trinity smirked. And suddenly the world was moving again.

Peter reached over to shake Neo's hand. "Always...interesting to see you guys."

Trinity carefully stepped over the broken coffee cup pieces on the floor and nodded to Mary Jane. "You'll do fine. Good luck."

Mary Jane picked up her purse, which had fallen to the floor, and stood. "Thanks."

"We love Peter, what can we say. We want him well taken care of." Trinity replied and gently punched Peter's shoulder. Mary Jane entwined her fingers in her lover's and he squeezed back.

Peter cleared his throat. "Will we...see you again?"

The older woman eyed him. "You can bet your ass you will." She swept off to the door, turned and nodded to them before leaving the café.

"Ever the mystery." Trinity said under her breath. Neo put his arm around her and whispered into her ear, "But so are we."

Trinity looked over at Peter and Mary Jane. "Bye, hero."

The two walked quickly to the door, exited, and then Peter and Mary Jane watched through the windows of the coffee shop as Trinity wrapped her arms around Neo. Neo looked in through the window at Peter, winked, put his sunglasses on and then...

"What the hell..." Mary Jane said the window and the pavement, even the street lamp next to them, rippled as Neo bent his knees (Trinity curving with him) as if to spring and then...he jumped up...no...flew up into the air, shooting off into the sky.

"Show-off," Peter muttered, obviously not surprised by the act. They watched the New York crowds look up, startled at the out-of-the-ordinary Superman routine.

"He's got style," Mary Jane sighed.

"He's got _balls_," Peter retorted back. He turned to her, his eyes searching. "You okay?" He looked worried, anxious.

"Never felt better," she said honestly. "But you've missed our coffee date." She raised her eyebrows. "You deserve punishment, tiger."

His voice low, intense and dangerous (in oh-so-different ways). "You gonna smash me into the wall, MJ? Tie my hands together and threaten those I love? Laugh maniacally in my face and smack me against blunt objects?"

Mary Jane was finding it very hard to keep her composure. "I gotta make you a man somehow."

"Well, even if you can kick my ass now, I still think you're hot." He looked at her with that look in his eyes. She was beginning to recognize it (even after just a few days) as his mouth curved up in a grin that was so Peter and yet not at all the Peter she used to think she knew. It was the Spider-Man part of Peter Parker. (_Her Peter Parker_.) She could see the request coming a second before he asked.

"Let's go home... my way."

She grinned, nodded and about dragged him out of the café and towards a familiar alleyway. Going home his way was, she was sure, going to become one of their favorite activities. "Make the famous model Mary Jane Watson even more of a target, Spider-Man."

"Wait for J.J. to show that not only did you leave a man at the altar, his SON, I may add, but you're dating at the SAME time a poor photographer (his very own photographer) and a superhero (that infamous monster that haunts the streets of New York!). You Jezebel." His eyes twinkled.

She giggled harder as she tugged at his shirt. "Didn't I hear that Lois Lane was cheating on her husband, that reporter guy, with Superman?"

Peter grinned at her lopsidedly. "You do your homework."

"This is so surreal," she remarked, her eyes twinkling as they worked in tandem to peel his clothes away, his Peter Parker persona, to reveal the red and blue beneath. She made appreciative noises as he stepped out of his pants. "Spandex, I love a man in spandex."

He tossed her his mask and stepped in close so that she could carefully put it over his head, pulling it over his beautiful eyes, nose...she stopped, wanting to ...

She pushed him forcefully, more forcefully than intended, against the wall. And kissed him, her hands on his wrists, her body crushed against his.

_right. oh this was so right. how could i have ever doubted, distanced myself, this this this was waiting for me, wanting me. always mine. _

Dizzy, she pulled away, her face flushed and eyes bright, and he quickly (but gently) moved out of her grasp. Her pulled the mask completely down over his face and neck and then shook his head at her perplexed face.

"Mary Jane, Mary Jane. You do realize that I am wearing spandex. You can't do that."

She stepped back up close to him and wrapped her arms around him. "Then take me somewhere where I can," she purred.

Beneath the mask, Peter made a small noise that made Mary Jane both exceedingly proud of herself and ... very sad that it had taken them THIS long to get to this point.

Shrieking in delight, she clung to him tighter as he jumped high in the air, shot out a web and swung mercilessly fast away from the alley way.

She had learned very quickly that while in the air, Peter had to concentrate and wasn't much of a conservationist. And with the wind blowing through her hair and the sounds of New York whizzing past in an insane Doppler effect, she found that she could think clearer as she held tight and trusted that he would get them safely home

_So. I'm stronger, faster and a bit bulkier_. She smiled as she realized that she wouldn't fit into her old _Earnest_ costumes, but then, she had planned to be absent from the show for her honeymoon..._oh John_. She knew that he understood—he would be furious, hurt, lonely and probably head straight for the gym and train for about three weeks straight—but she knew he understood.

She forced herself not to think of him. Anyway, I'll have to be refitted, she thought, but only slightly. I'm not the new Wonder Woman and I don't think I'll hold a candle to Peter's...body...

Mary Jane then realized that it was easier to hold on to the aforementioned Peter's body...It was less stressing and certainly she felt safer as her grip was stronger. Nuzzling her face against his neck, she closed her eyes and enjoyed the sensation of being swung all over New York City.

A horribly wonderful idea came to her (always) devious mind and she quickly, using lips and her nose, maneuvered an opening between the cloth separating the mask and the body suit. As her mouth found the tender flesh of his neck, Peter gasped and lost grip on the current web he was swinging from and had to desperately shoot another out to save them from certain death.

"Time to live your life a bit more dangerously, Peter," she purred into his ear and began to work wonders with her lips, teeth and tongue.  
  
"You...she-devil!" was all he could say as he tried harder than ever to concentrate on getting them home. Alive.

Undetectable as he was lightning fast, he landed on the balcony of his apartment and quickly opened the door for both of them to enter, breathless, into his now spotlessly clean apartment. Each time Spider-Man had to run off and save the day in the past two days, Mary Jane straightened, cleaned and washed. While still derelict and leaving much to be desired, the place looked livable.

She about tore his mask of and flung it aside, her fingers instantly entwined in his hair, soft and slightly sweaty, her eyes watching him close his eyes.

"I know what you're thinking, Spider-Man. Open your eyes. I'm real." It was almost heartbreaking to watch him tremble a moment and then slowly open his blue eyes.

"Hi."

"Hi." She repeated the word back to him and remembered..._oh god..._

He reached up to take her face in his hands and he kissed her gently. Peter had not yet perfected the art of kissing, being newly introduced to the situation in which he must kiss Mary Jane for a _long_ period of time — not spectacularly once upside down in the rain, depressingly over the grave of Uncle Ben, and ecstatically in the door way of his apartment. But Mary Jane was sure that under her wise tutelage, in about a week his kissing technique would make her weak at the knees and warm from head to toe.

As it was, he was a quick learner and what he didn't have in experience, he certainly had in the cute noises department.

Her hands moved slowly down from his hair to his shoulders, his back. Pulling him closer, she shivered as he put one gloved hand on her neck and the other on her lower back. With her head slightly tipped back, he was taller after all, she enjoyed it as he was growing more adventurous, his tongue slowly running over her lower lip before...oh yes... She would have no other man devour her mouth than Peter..._my peter _

She pulled away (enjoying the fact that it was quite easy to pull away from her strongman boyfriend with her "head start") and shook her head. "Spider-Man, Spider-Man, let's take it all off, Spider-Man." Her sing-song put such a wide grin on his face that she wanted to pounce him at once, but there was important de-spandex-ing to do.

Pleased that she could peel his suit off quicker than the first, rather embarrassing, time, Mary Jane hummed the Spider-Man song that she had heard many a street performer croon. "Action is his reward," she sang as she pushed him, very business-like, onto the bed so she could speedily roll the red/blue tights off his legs. Properly trained actress that she was, Mary Jane gathered the suit, mask and gloves and hung them quickly up in the closet. She turned around to see her underwear-clad Peter on the bed, looking as if he had been unceremoniously stripped by the love of his life.

"Oh boy," he said, his charming shyness almost overwhelming her. _He was so cute._

"Oh boy, what?" She raised her eyebrows as she tied her hair up out of her way (always an unfortunately un-sexy necessity).

He fell back on the bed, looking up at the ceiling. "When is this going to seem real to me, MJ?"

"The mind makes it real," she replied as she almost carelessly approached and straddled him. He instantly levered himself up and his mouth was on hers again.

He was closing his eyes tightly as he held on to her, enjoying the taste of her, enjoying her fingers in his hair, her (surprisingly) strong hold to his body. But she pulled away at once, smiling idiotically at him. "Well?" She said, expectant.

Peter's eyes widened as he understood and the deep crimson (that Mary Jane was beginning to fetishize) flourished in his cheeks. "You have to understand that this is still a little hard for me," he quietly said as he carefully lifted her shirt.

Mary Jane shrieked in laughter (which made it not only difficult for Peter to take the aforementioned pink silk shirt off but difficult to concentrate as her laughter had a vibrating rhythm and she _was_ straddling him.)

His shyness momentarily gone, he flung the shirt over his head, took her by the shoulders and flipped her on her back. One hand rested on her shoulder, pinning her down, and the other lay flat on her stomach. She looked at him, wide-eyed and lips parted. His hand slowly edged down to her waist, quickly undid the clasp, the button, slid the zipper down and then...

Mary Jane closed her eyes, held her breath and stopped thinking of anything but..._oh god_... His fingers found her, found that she was pleased to be found. It was shocking how quick Peter had learned how to..._oh god_...And he bend his head to kiss her gently as he lazily swirled his fingers around, seeing what made her breath catch in her throat and repeating the action, again and again. "This," he said, a bit hoarsely. "Now _this_ is surreal."

She said his name slowly, dreamily as he began to rhythmically pulse his finger against the tiny knot of nerves. His lips traveled from her cheek to her chin, down her neck and to the sensitive spot at her throat. She gasped, and he continued, his mouth teasing, his fingers firm but gentle.

But, as chance would usually have it, Peter carelessly slipped from the mark and Mary Jane slowly felt her consciousness return. And when men are off the mark, one of three things go through a woman's mind, 1) aaah fuck; 2) did I leave the oven on?; or 3) devious devious devious thoughts.

Of course, Mary Jane went straight for option 3. A smile to make the Cheshire cat wince in jealousy spread across her face and she smirked at the fact that her "head start" was going to first help her in the bedroom.

Peter never saw it coming.

One minute, he had his hands down the pants of the girl he was in love with since he was six, the next minute...hell...he didn't know what was happening.

"I'm glad your spidey-sense doesn't fully see what I've got planned," she said breathlessly as she wrestled herself out of his grasp, pushed him back onto his back, straddled him, took one of his flailing arms and brought his wrist up to her mouth. He looked at her, shocked, as she licked the small red bump and she moved her hips ever so slightly. His eyes rolled back into his head and a small web shot out. She grabbed it, took his other arm and before either of them fully realized it, she had tied his hands together and was already kissing him, hard on the mouth.

She pulled away for air and saw his startled eyes looking at her. "I know you can easily tear out of your own restraints, Peter Parker, but you're going to indulge me on this."

"'Kay" – was all he could manage.

She kissed him again, enjoying how her tongue slid against his, the slow dance of movement that made little sense but felt right, oh so right. But she had something else in mind.

Pulling away, she trailed kisses down his cheek, neck, stopped a moment at his throat, and then continued down his body. It tasted of Peter and sweat (he had just been wearing that Spandex thing...she remembered), but his mild struggles and those cute little noises kept her motivated. Her tongue swirled around the left and then right nipple as his back straightened.

_This was fun_, she thought but she had a mission, a quest. Peter was no longer a virgin, she had taken care of that two days ago, but one rather important sensation – oh her Peter had not yet fully broken into all of the standard sexual realm...and Mary Jane had no qualms in a bit of foreplay.

She just hoped the neighbors weren't listening.

"Not...fair..." he whimpered, and she knew he was trying to peer at what exactly she was doing, wanting to know but unable to think clearly. There was something incredibly hot about controlling her movements, listening to his gasps, his scattered calling of her name, and knowing she was not only bringing some closure to his 14 years of angst, but letting him know how much she loved him (in such a fun, silly way).

Peter was now incoherently babbling and Mary Jane knew it was time for phase two. Her hand snaked up to take over and she used the other to rip her slacks off.

Desire matched with this new strength regrettably made her literally rip her slacks off, which was unfortunate as she liked those slacks, but more important things were (literally) at hand.

He ripped the restraints off, and looked only momentarily apologetic, before pouncing. Still the red haired vixen, her new strength helped her to fight the superhero's strength but soon she was pinned under him and from the look in his eyes, she knew she was not going to get away unscathed.

He buried his face into her neck. "God—I'msoinlovewithyou."

She pushed him gently onto his side and wrapped her legs around him. He ran his hand down her leg, looked into her eyes and ... yes.

This was the third...no fourth time they had made love. And she lost herself in his blue eyes as their rhythm escalated. He was ... amazing. Such a horribly trite word to describe someone so beautiful, but amazing...yes, that would be the word that fit Peter Parker. His eyes closed and she whispered his name.

As he came, his face scrunched up and he held his tongue between his lips. Her heart leapt in her chest. Yes, she enjoyed his O face, she loved watching him, loved his expressions and loved to see what was said first: "I love you" or "eeemmmmjjjaaaayyyyy."

He surprised her.

Really surprised her.

"Soinlovewithyousoinlovewithyoumarymaryjanemarymaryjanemarrymemarryme, marry me mary jane."

_Shit._

He was silent at once, breathing deeply, holding the moment and holding his girl close and closer. He opened his eyes, soft blues staring into her widely opened green eyes, and she realized at once that he was oblivious to what he had just said. Kissing her softly on the mouth, he hummed back the Spider-Man theme to her, his hand quickly moving to her hips, sliding across her primly trimmed dark red hairs and then...Mary Jane completely lost all sense of self.

He was completely on the mark the whole time and his rhythm constant, pressure firm. Her eyes closed and he kissed each eyelid, whispering, "I love you, MJ," as his lips halted in front of her nose.

His pace sped up. And his voice ever so soft..."now" – right into her ear.

And that was it.

Red, streaks of blue and silver. Flashes of gold and the sound of Peter's voice whispering, again at her ear. Slipping in and out of heaven. Losing everything but Peter, Peter taking her so far away and bring her slowly back to the flesh, back to reality. Back to his soft blues looking humored at her bright greens.

"What?" She licked his nose playfully.

"I won't tell," he replied. She suddenly had the sensation that Subconscious!Peter had proposed and Subconscious!MJ had accepted. _Oh jeez._

She buried her face in his neck and concentrated on the complexity of his particular smell. It was comforting, it was so... right. Before she could stop the words coming out, they did. "I want to deserve you, Peter Parker."

He laughed and pulled her closer. "You have no idea how ridiculous that is, Mary Jane."

She looked up at him, into his incredulous and amused eyes. "What?"

He hesitated. "I've been trying to...MJ...since the first grade...I..."

Swatting his face with two fingers as if he was a child, she laughed at him. And the stopped, her laugh caught in the back of her throat. She caressed his cheek now.

"You gotta understand, Peter. I'm nobody. You're a hero. I have to deserve two men here. I have to deserve the incredibly kind geek of my heart. And the hero who risks his life daily for the people of this city. Am I woman enough for you?"

He looked at her long and hard, his eyes searching and his muscles flexing. She looked back at him and felt like the answer was in the future, not in the present.

"C'mere" was all he said in reply.

It was a gentle kiss. A quiet, meaningful one. She closed her eyes and hoped. Hoped that she would be an ally, not a hindrance. A protector, not a victim. His love, not his regret.

Time would tell.

Thanks: Centaur (hn!), DanaScully (worship), Raedances (naughty!), PersephoneFlame (adore!), Tazo (squee!), Zephyr (kickass!), Vitani (omgthereloveissocallipygian!)

DanaScully: "Trinity's mission was important ;-) must. save. mj. from. herself. ;-)"


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